Seattle in defiance: The story behind the iconic image

SeattlePI photographer Genna Martin's photo celebrated as one of 2017's best images

Updated 5:29 pm, Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM

Demonstrators sit down in the concourse and hold a sign that reads "We are America." More than 1,000 people gather at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Saturday, January 28 to protest President Trump's immigration ban. President Trump signed an executive order Friday that bars citizens from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the U.S. for the next 90 days and suspends the admission of all refugees for 120 days.

Demonstrators sit down in the concourse and hold a sign that reads...

On Friday, Jan. 27, President Trump signed an executive order suspending entry to the United States of all refugees for 120 days, barring Syrian refugees indefinitely and banning entry for citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen -- for 90 days.

By Saturday, people -- including some permanent, legal U.S. residents -- were being stopped at airports across the country. Six were detained at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

I received a call from a former coworker, ex-SeattlePI photographer Josh Trujillo, around 5 p.m. He told me some people were headed to Sea-Tac Airport to protest the ban and he had a feeling it was going to be a big deal. I hurried down and found 30 or 40 people marching through the departure level, chanting and holding signs.

Over the next three hours, demonstrators poured into Sea-Tac. By 8:30 p.m., Seattle's socialist City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant was raising her fist above a crowd of protesters, now several thousand strong, filling the arrivals hall. At one point, police halted light-rail trains from stopping at Sea-Tac to slow the rush of people filling the terminal. Meanwhile, impromptu protests were springing up in airports across the country.

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Seattle in defiance: The story behind the iconic image

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As the evening continued, two of the six incoming detainees were released following an emergency stay granted by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly. Protesters attempted to block several security checkpoints throughout the airport. They clashed with police reinforcements who had arrived decked out in riot gear, and several were detained.

As Saturday night turned into Sunday morning, the remaining 50 protesters dug in near ticketing, demanding the release of the four remaining detainees. Around 2 a.m., the police gave a dispersal order and closed in, using bikes and pepper spray to push the final band down two escalators and into the parking garage.

Seattle is a politically very active city and we photograph dozens of protests, rallies and marches throughout the year. Of all the demonstrations I photographed in 2017, this was one of the most memorable ... and not just because it's hard to forget being pepper-sprayed in the face.

The spontaneity and conviction made the atmosphere electric. It was incredible to see that many people of all religions and walks of life showing up after only a few hours' notice to give a voice to a handful strangers locked in an airport holding room.

As a photographer at a breaking news event, I am constantly trying to make images that tell a complete story in one frame. As the protesters in the airport sat down to block an area of the departures hall, I saw that Arsalan Bukhari, the executive director of the Washington chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, were holding an American flag, with the words "WE ARE AMERICA" written on it. It was laid out in front as the seated protesters filled the hall behind it, their hand-written signs raised in the air above their heads.

That image told the story of not only what was happening that night at Sea-Tac, but also what was happening in airports in Denver, New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas and many other cities.